Systems and methods involving a smart cable storage drum and network node for transmission of data

ABSTRACT

Among other things, techniques, systems, methods and computer readable storage medium with executable instructions relating to the viewing of data from and the controlling of the operation of an inspection camera at a remote computing device that is connected to the inspection camera via a network are described. Various features may be realized by using an installable software application or a web browser at the remote computing device. Features of the invention also pertain to a smart cable storage drum comprising a push cable, an inspection camera, and a network transceiver configured to communicate with a remote computer.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to co-pendingU.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/654,713, Filed Jun. 1,2012, entitled SYSTEMS AND METHODS INVOLVING A SMART CABLE STORAGE DRUMAND NETWORK NODE FOR TRANSMISSION OF DATA, the content of which ishereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety for allpurposes.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This disclosure relates generally to cable storage drums configured tostore push-cables attached to inspection devices (e.g., cameras andother devices configured to collect information relating to particularenvironments). This disclosure further relates generally to control ofinspection devices by one or more control devices using at least onesoftware application and at least one wired or wireless communicationpathway. Communication between inspection devices and control devicesmay be carried out using any suitable protocol, including InternetProtocol. In this manner, the software application may be web-enabled.More specifically, but not exclusively, this disclosure relates todevices and methods used in communicating video and/or other databetween at least one inspection device and at least one remote computingdevice.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Cable storage drums used to contain push-cables with inspection camerasare known in the art. Such cable storage drums may connect directly to acamera control unit that is configured to store and display video andother data captured by an inspection camera, and to control theinspection camera (e.g., configure data and video feed from theinspection camera, etc.). Such a camera control unit tends to be anexpensive, complicated and bulky piece of equipment that requiresspecialized skill to operate. Moreover, use of such a camera controlunit prevents collaborative control of inspection equipment and viewingof captured video/data at various locations of multiple users. Indeed, auser of a cable storage drum with an attached inspection camera mustcarry a bulky, unnecessarily complicated, and expensive camera controlunit in order to perform an inspection of a pipe or other otherwiseinaccessible conduit. The use of camera control units further limitsparticipation by remote users during the inspection.

Accordingly, there is a need in the art to address the above-describedas well as other problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure relates generally to cable storage drums used tocontain push-cables with inspection cameras for use in inspecting pipesor otherwise inaccessible conduits. A cable storage drum may include adrum casing, an attached push-cable, an inspection camera or otherinspection device, and a network (e.g., local area network (LAN))transceiver to communicate with a suitable computing device such as asmart phone, laptop, tablet computer or other mobile computing device.Such a computing device may allow a user to view inspection datacaptured by the inspection device and may permit the user to control theinspection device. Transmission of data and control commands may occurover a wireless or wired network connection (e.g., a wireless LAN).

The present invention may also or alternatively relate to a cable drumconfigured with means to record and store video and/or other data froman inspection camera, other inspection device, and/or computing device.The cable drum may include an embedded hard drive or other recordingtechnology or may connect to an external hard drive, USB thumb drive, orother recording device/technology (e.g., cloud storage, storage at anexternal computing device and a fixed or removable battery.

The present invention may also or alternatively relate to a cable drumhaving an embedded network transceiver that enables exchange ofinformation among various devices connected to the network (e.g.,between an inspection device of the cable drum and a remote computingdevice using a wireless local area network hotspot). Hereafter theabbreviation WLAN may be used for the term “wireless local areanetwork”. Upon connecting to a WLAN hotspot, a web browser or othersoftware application used by the computing device may present a webpageor other user interface that presents data from inspection device). Byway of example, the webpage may display streaming video from aninspection camera, and may further provide a control interfaceconfigured to receive instructions from a user that are used to controlthe inspection camera. Similarly, a software application may beinstalled onto the computing device, and may be launched to connect thecomputing device to the cable storage drum's network.

In accordance with some aspects of the invention, the network may useany of various wireless communication technologies, including Bluetoothand/or the WLAN hotspot. The network transceiver may use a wired localarea network connection such as, for instance, through an Ethernet orUSB cable and connectors.

In accordance with yet other aspects of the invention, the computingdevice may be enabled to modify or otherwise use data captured by aninspection device. For instance, a user may edit a pipe inspectionreport by adding text, audio narration, drawings, highlights/circles orother markups to images and text in the report. The user may make suchedits by way of menu selections on a user interface and/or manipulatingobjects on the computing devices screen (e.g., manipulating a cursor orother selection tool). One of skill in the art will appreciate that auser may edit data using features available only in conjunction withtouchscreens. When coupled with a web service or internet connection,the computing device may transfer inspection data to remote locations(e.g., another computing device operated by a fellow inspector or abeneficiary of the inspection, cloud storage, or various otherdestinations).

Various additional aspects, features, and functionality are furtherdescribed below in conjunction with the appended Drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present application may be more fully appreciated in connection withthe following detailed description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 depicts an illustration of user performing a pipe inspectionusing a smart cable storage drum and enabled computing device.

FIG. 2A provides an illustration of a smart cable storage drum depictingvarious aspects.

FIG. 2B provides an illustration of a smart cable storage drum depictingvarious aspects.

FIG. 2C provides an illustration of a smart cable storage drum depictingvarious aspects.

FIG. 2D provides an illustration of a smart cable storage drum depictingvarious aspects.

FIG. 2E depicts a key pad associated with a smart cable storage drum.

FIG. 2F provides an illustration of a smart cable storage drum depictingvarious aspects.

FIG. 2G provides an illustration of a smart cable storage drum depictingvarious aspects.

FIG. 3 depicts an illustration of a possible user interface for acomputing device.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart describing a method for carrying outcommunication of data and instructions between a computing device and asmart cable storage drum.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart describing yet another method for carrying outcommunication of data and instructions between a computing device and asmart cable storage drum.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Overview

The present disclosure relates generally to cable storage drums used tocontain push-cables with inspection cameras for use in inspecting pipesor otherwise hard-to-access conduits and areas.

The following disclosure of various embodiments of the invention isprovided to illustrate different aspects, details, and functions of thepresent invention. It is to be understood that embodiments describedherein are not intended to be in any way limiting. It will be apparentto one of ordinary skill in the art that various aspects may beimplemented in other embodiments within the spirit and scope of thepresent disclosure.

For example, in accordance with one aspect of the invention, a cablestorage drum may include any number of means, including hardware and/orsoftware components, for recording and storing video and/or otherinformation from an inspection device (e.g., camera) and/or one or morecomputing device(s). Such hardware and/or software may include a harddrive or other recording technology embedded in the cable storage drum,and/or an output (e.g., a USB port, wireless transceiving component,etc.), for connecting to external memory (e.g., a USB memory stick,external hard drive, cloud storage, or other external recording device).

Such hardware or software components may reside entirely within arotating structure of a cable drum (e.g., a centrally-located rotary hubaround which a push cable may be wound and unwound during storage oruse). Alternatively, the hardware and software components may residewithin non-rotating supporting structure. By way of another example,some of the hardware and software components may reside within therotating structure while others may reside in the non-rotating fixedstructure, where an electrical and data link may be formed usingrotating contacts (e.g., via a slip ring). A power source (e.g., abattery) may reside within or attach to the rotating component. Whereelectronic components rotate with the rotating structure, no slip ringmay be needed.

In accordance with another aspect, a local area network transceiverwithin the cable storage drum may provide a wireless local area network(“WLAN”) hotspot to which external computing devices may connect. Uponconnecting to the WLAN hotspot (or other suitable network node), one ormore computing devices may open a web browser or other installablesoftware application for displaying a webpage or other user interfacethat provides streaming video from the inspection camera, and/orprovides a control interface that receives instructions from a user thatcontrol the inspection camera.

In accordance with yet another aspect, Bluetooth, Ethernet, USB cable orother wireless and wired communication technologies may be used in lieuof or in addition to the WLAN hotspot. Similarly, a wide area network(WAN) or other network may also or alternatively be used.

Still, in accordance with yet another aspect, the computing device maybe enabled to modify or otherwise use data captured by an inspectiondevice. For instance, a user may edit a pipe inspection report by addingtext, audio narration, drawings, highlights/circles or other markups toimages and text in the report. The user may make such edits by way ofmenu selections on a user interface and/or manipulating objects on thecomputing devices screen (e.g., manipulating a cursor or other selectiontool). One of skill in the art will appreciate that a user may edit datausing features available only in conjunction with touchscreens. Whencoupled with a web service or internet connection, the computing devicemay transfer inspection data to remote locations (e.g., anothercomputing device operated by a fellow inspector or a beneficiary of theinspection, cloud storage, or various other destinations).

Various additional aspects, features, and functions are described belowin conjunction with FIGS. 1 through 5 of the appended Drawings.

It is noted that as used herein, the term, “exemplary” means “serving asan example, instance, or illustration.” Any aspect, detail, function,implementation, and/or embodiment described herein as “exemplary” is notnecessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over otheraspects and/or embodiments.

Terminology

As used herein the term “hotspot” refers to any local area network node.This may include any local area network node establishing a wirelessand/or wired connection utilizing a variety of different technologiesbetween a smart cable storage drum and an enabled computing device. Someof these technologies may include but are not limited to WLAN (e.g.,Wi-Fi), Bluetooth, Ethernet, and USB. One of skill in the art willappreciate that disclosure related to local area networks, and inparticular WLAN hotspots, also applies to other networks (e.g., cloudnetworks, wide area networks, cellular networks, radio and other beaconnetworks, distributed networks, satellite networks, among other networksknown in the art).

Furthermore, as used herein the term “LAN” may refer to any local areanetwork both wired and wireless. The term “WLAN” as used herein mayrefer to a wireless local area network based upon IEEE 802.11 standards.

Aspects Relating to Buried Object Locating Systems

Turning to FIG. 1, a cable storage drum 110 may include an inspectioncamera 120 (or other inspection device) attached to the end of a pushcable 130. A user 140 may insert the push cable 130 and attached orintegral inspection camera 120 into a pipe 150. A wireless local areanetwork connection may be established between the cable storage drum 110and a computing device 160 (e.g., a tablet) using a variety wirelesstechnologies such as, but not limited to, WLAN and Bluetooth. Thecomputing device 160 may then be used to view data from and controlaspects of the inspection device 120. Various aspects and detailsregarding cable storage drums and push cables are described inco-assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/371,540, filed Feb. 13,2009, entitled PUSH-CABLES FOR PIPE INSPECTION SYSTEM; U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/073,919, filed Mar. 28, 2011, entitled PIPEINSPECTION SYSTEM WITH JETTER PUSH-CABLE; U.S. patent application Ser.No. 13/214,208, filed Aug. 21, 2011, entitled ASYMMETRIC DRAG FORCEBEARINGS FOR USE WITH PUSH-CABLE STORAGE DRUMS; U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 12/704,808, filed Feb. 12, 2010, entitled PIPE INSPECTIONSYSTEM WITH REPLACEABLE CABLE STORAGE DRUM; U.S. patent application Ser.No. 13/774,351, filed Feb. 22, 2013, entitled DOCKABLE TRIPODAL CAMERACONTROL UNIT; U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/671,644,filed Jul. 13, 2012, entitled SELF-GROUNDING TRANSMITTING PORTABLECAMERA CONTROLLER FOR USE WITH PIPE INSPECTION SYSTEMS; U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application Ser. No. 61/174,429, filed Apr. 30, 2009, entitledLOG FILE FOR CAMERA INSPECTION SYSTEMS; U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/939,591, filed Nov. 4, 2010, entitled SMART PERSONAL COMMUNICATIONDEVICES AS USER INTERFACES; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/679,092,filed Feb. 26, 2007, entitled LIGHT WEIGHT SEWER CABLE; U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/589,948, filed Ser. No. 13/589,948, entitledLIGHT WEIGHT SEWER CABLE; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/704,808,filed Feb. 12, 2010, entitled PIPE INSPECTION SYSTEM WITH REMOVABLEDRUM; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/346,668, filed Jan. 9, 2012,entitled PORTABLE CAMERA CONTROLLER PLATFORM FOR USE WITH PIPEINSPECTION SYSTEMS; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/676,018, filedNov. 13, 2012, entitled PORTABLE PIPE INSPECTION SYSTEMS AND APPARATUS;U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/754,767, filed Jan. 30, 2013,entitled ADJUSTABLE VARIABLE RESOLUTION INSPECTION SYSTEMS AND METHODS;U.S. Pat. No. 6,545,704; U.S. Pat. No. 5,939,679; U.S. Pat. No.6,831,679; U.S. Pat. No. 6,958,767; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,862,945; U.S.Pat. No. 5,457,288; U.S. Pat. No. 5,808,239; U.S. Pat. No. 6,908,310;U.S. Pat. No. 8,395,661; U.S. Pat. No. 8,289,385; collectively referredto herein as the “related applications”. The content of each of thesepatents, publications and applications is incorporated by referenceherein in its entirety for all purposes.

Turning to FIGS. 2A, 2B, 2C, 2D and 2E, the cable storage drum 110 isshown in detail according to different embodiments depicting variousaspects. The cable storage drum 110 may comprise a front shell half 210and a back shell half 220. A handle, such as the handle 230, may beincluded about the top of the cable storage drum 110 or at any otherlocation. A wired connector 240 may optionally be included to connect acomputing device in accordance with various aspects and featuresdisclosed herein. For example, the wired connector 240 may permit acomputing device to connect to a LAN connection hosted by the cablestorage drum 110, or may alternatively permit the cable storage drum 110to connect to a LAN hosted by the computing device. The wired connector240 may also permit connection of a traditional camera control unit (notshown) to the cable storage drum 110. Various aspects and detailsregarding camera control units as used with pipe inspection systems aredescribed in co-assigned patent applications, including, for example,U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 61/607,510, entitled DUAL SENSEDLOCATING SYSTEMS & METHODS, filed Mar. 6, 2012; U.S. Patent ApplicationSer. No. 61/430,932, entitled PORTABLE CAMERA CONTROLLER PLATFORM FORUSE WITH PIPE INSPECTION SYSTEM, filed on Jan. 7, 2011; U.S. PatentApplication Ser. No. 61/602,065, entitled DOCKABLE TRIPODAL CAMERACONTROL UNIT, filed on Feb. 22, 2012; U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/774,351, filed Feb. 22, 2013, entitled DOCKABLE TRIPODAL CAMERACONTROL UNIT; U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/671,644,filed Jul. 13, 2012, entitled SELF-GROUNDING TRANSMITTING PORTABLECAMERA CONTROLLER FOR USE WITH PIPE INSPECTION SYSTEMS; U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application Ser. No. 61/174,429, filed Apr. 30, 2009, entitledLOG FILE FOR CAMERA INSPECTION SYSTEMS; U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/939,591, filed Nov. 4, 2010, entitled SMART PERSONAL COMMUNICATIONDEVICES AS USER INTERFACES; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/679,092,filed Feb. 26, 2007, entitled LIGHT WEIGHT SEWER CABLE; U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/589,948, filed Ser. No. 13/589,948, entitledLIGHT WEIGHT SEWER CABLE; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/704,808,filed Feb. 12, 2010, entitled PIPE INSPECTION SYSTEM WITH REMOVABLEDRUM; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/346,668, filed Jan. 9, 2012,entitled PORTABLE CAMERA CONTROLLER PLATFORM FOR USE WITH PIPEINSPECTION SYSTEMS; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/676,018, filedNov. 13, 2012, entitled PORTABLE PIPE INSPECTION SYSTEMS AND APPARATUS;U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/754,767, filed Jan. 30, 2013,entitled ADJUSTABLE VARIABLE RESOLUTION INSPECTION SYSTEMS AND METHODS;and U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/152,662, entitledHIGH PERFORMANCE PIPE INSPECTION SYSTEM, filed Feb. 13, 2009, alsocollectively referred to herein as the “related applications”. Thecontent of each of these patents, publications and applications isincorporated by reference herein in its entirety for all purposes.

A wheel assembly 250 may be located at the bottom of the cable storagedrum 110 to aid with ease of transport. A central hub plate 260 may besecured to the sides of the cable storage drum 210 that largely concealsome or all of the push cable 130 and the inspection camera 120 when inuse or not in use. The push cable 130 may be wound around a rotatingcable carrier or hub (not shown) that is disposed within the cable drum110 behind the central hub plate 260.

One or more cable feed holes 270 may be formed through the central hubplate 260 that, when the cable storage drum 110 is in use, allow thepush cable 130 and the inspection camera 120 to pass through. A camerastowage clip 275 may be formed on the surface of the central hub plate260 such that an inspection camera may be stored under the camerastowage clip 275 when not in use.

The cable storage drum 110 may also include a wireless transceivermodule 280 enabled to transmit and receive signal via WLAN, Bluetooth,or other wireless technology. In at least one embodiment, a wiredtransceiver module (e.g., in the alternative to the wired connector 240)may replace or be used in conjunction with the wireless transceivermodule 280 to establish a wired local area network connection betweenone or more computing devices and a smart cable storage drum such as thecable storage drum 110. A USB port 285 or other suitable input/outputport may also be included to permit additional data exchange.

One or more stow bins 290 may be included so that a connector for one ormore batteries such as the batteries 295 may provide electrical power tothe cable storage drum 110. A lid on top of the stow bins 290 mayprovide access to storage for tools, extra batteries, or otherjob-related items within the stow bins 290. The batteries 295 may bebatteries such as those disclosed in U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationSer. No. 61/521,262, entitled MODULAR BATTERY PACK APPARATUS, SYSTEMS,AND METHODS, filed Aug. 8, 2011, the contents of which is herebyincorporated by reference herein in its entirety. In some embodiments,different types of batteries and/or a wired connection to the electricalgrid may be used to provide power to a smart cable storage drum such asthe cable storage drum 110.

As shown in FIG. 2C, an alternative cable storage drum 211 may include aslip ring 297 that is integral with or inserted into a cavity 296 (shownin FIG. 2G) formed by at least part of the hub (e.g., a rotary hub 298of FIG. 2F and FIG. 2G) around which the push cable winds and unwindsduring storage and use. The slip ring 297 may be used to house variouselectronics and controls. For example, a small keypad 291 and USB orother communication port 293 may be integrated with the slip ring hub297. The slip ring hub 297 may house a network transceiver (e.g., a WLANtransceiver), a compressor for compressing data from an inspectiondevice, and other components, and may be detachable from the cablestorage drum 211. As shown, the slip ring hub 297 may be coupled to thecable storage drum 211 along a central axis through a radial center ofthe cable storage drum 211 (e.g., the shell halves 210 and 210 of thecable storage drum 211).

As shown in FIG. 2D, an alternative cable storage drum 251 may include aslip ring hub 297 or other hub that may be include or be otherwisecoupled to various features, including a small keypad 271, a USB orother communication port 293, and a battery 295, among other electroniccomponents like a network transceiver, and a compressor. Although notshown, the battery 295 may be configured so it is enclosed by the shellhalves 210 and 210. As shown, the cable 299 is optional.

Greater detail of a key pad 281 is shown in FIG. 2E. The key pad 281 issimilar to the keypad 271, and may include four buttons configured to(from left to right): activate power of hub 297 or the cable storagedrum 251; activate an image capture feature where single photos aretaken by an inspection camera; activate an image capture feature wherevideo is taken by the inspection camera; and activate an auto-loggingfeature.

FIG. 2F shows one embodiment of rotary hub 298 configured to rotate whenthe push cable 130 is released from or received by the cable drum 110.FIG. 2G shows another embodiment of rotary hub 298 configured to rotatewhen the push cable 130 is released from or received by the cable drum110. Various electronic components disclosed herein may be disposed onor integrated with the rotary hubs 298 of FIGS. 2F and 2G.Alternatively, a hub insert (e.g., a slip ring as described elsewhereherein) may house the electronics, and may electronically couple to aninspection device using rotating electrical contacts that transfer,among other things, power from a power source (e.g., battery or wiredsource) to/from the electronic components and may also transfer data orcommands to/from the inspection device. Alternatively, data/commandcommunication may take place via wireless communication pathways knownin the art.

Attention is now drawn to FIG. 3, which depicts a control interface 300for a computing device (e.g., computing device 160 from FIG. 1). Asshown, the control interface 300 may include a viewing area 310 forviewing video and/or other data. The control interface 300 may alsoinclude various on-screen controls and menu options that are selectableby a user using a touchscreen input, mouse, keyboard or other means forselecting a presented control/menu option.

Examples of controls and menu options may include: a Photo Button 320which, when selected, causes the inspection camera 120 to capture asnapshot of the present camera view; a Video Button 322 which, whenselected, may start and stop video recording at the inspection camera120; and an Auto-logging Button 326 which, when selected, may start andstop the capture of a series of timed still images from the inspectioncamera 120. Upon activation of the Auto-logging Button 326, and auto-logmode may be turned on at the drum 110, and audio inputted by the usermay also be captured.

Furthermore, the control interface 300 may include: a Photo Tag Button328, which may trigger the inspection camera 120 to capture a snapshotof the camera view and then open an editing screen area for enablingannotation of the photo with text and/or audio comments by a user; a JobReview Button 330, which may open a review screen area for reviewingcaptured video, snapshots, and/or audio elements, and/or for allowingnotation to be added to video; and a Job Manager Button 332, which mayopen a menu that permits the user to generate a report, select anexisting report file to view from a listing of existing files (e.g.,stored locally or at an external database), and/or eject or otherwisedisconnect a device from the cable storage drum 110 (e.g., a USB devicefrom the USB port 295).

The control interface 300 may also include: a LED Brightness Button 334,which may provide for an adjustment of the level of illumination fromLEDs on the inspection camera; and a Zero Button 336, which may allow auser to reset the zero-point of a cable distance counter on the smartcable storage drum or to cancel the use of a relative zero point.

A series of Arrow Buttons 338 may also be included and be used totraverse menus and screens shown on the display of the computing device160. A Select Button 358 may be used to activate a selection in such amenu. Other controls include: a Menu Button 340, which providesconfiguration choices to a user; a Sonde Button 342, which may start andstop operation of a Sonde transmitter; a Microphone Button 344, whichmay activate audio recording for use in recording descriptivecommentary; an Image Flip Button 346, which may be used to flip thevertical orientation of the screen image while mirroring the screenimage horizontally for use when the camera has been rotated within apipe; and a Power Button 348, which may be used to activate theinspection camera 120 and/or other inspection devices, for instance,from a sleeping state after a period of non-use.

Along with the various controls, a series of indicators may appearon-screen to notify a user of various parameters and statuses associatedwith the inspection camera 120 and/or other components of the cablestorage drum 110. These indicators may include: a Video Indicator 350,which may be located under the Video Button 322, and may be used toindicate the state of video capture in progress or captured video underprocessing; an Auto-log Indicator 352, which may be located under theAuto-logging Button 326 which may be indicated by the use of an asteriskor star icon, and may be used to indicate that auto-logging is inprogress; a Microphone Indicator 354, which may be located under theMicrophone Button 344, and may be used to indicate when audio recordingis in progress; and a Sonde Indicator 356, which may be located underthe Sonde Button 342, and may be used to indicate the state of a Sondewhen transmitting or not transmitting. Other functions and features maybe incorporated into the user interface to permit control of otherinspection devices.

In some embodiments, more than one recording modes may be used where thedifferent modes may be more or less compressed than the data of theother modes. For instance, in auto-log mode, data may be more compressedthan with a video recording mode. Data compression may be accomplishedthrough any known or unknown methods in the art. In some embodiments, acable storage drum in keeping with the present disclosure may be enabledto constantly record. In such embodiments with a constant recordingmode, this mode may be activated by how the cable storage drum is turnedon or through user settings or configuration.

One of skill in the art will appreciate various methods for receivinguser control input, including user control inputs via voice-activation.Similarly, other kinds of switching devices may be used than thosedescribed herein while keeping within both the spirit and scope of theinvention.

Turning to FIG. 4, a flow chart is provided describing a method forusing a computing device (e.g., the computing device 160 of FIG. 1) toview content from a smart cable storage drum, and to control certainaspects of the smart cable storage drum (e.g., the cable storage drum110 of FIG. 1). At a first step 410, the computing device connects to alocal area network associated with the cable storage drum (e.g., via aWLAN hotspot). At a second step 420, the computing device accesses anddownload a webpage configured to present information (e.g., video orother visual representation) captured by an inspection camera (e.g., theinspection camera 120 of FIG. 1) inside a pipe or other hard-to-accessarea. At a third step 430, any recorded content may be received from theinspection camera and made available for viewing via a suitable webservice. At a fourth step 440, the webpage from step 420 may provide acontrol interface. Activation by a user of certain controls offered bythe control interface may control certain operations of the inspectioncamera system or other inspection or measurement systems. At a fifthstep 450, the computing device may interact with the inspection camerasystem through the web service.

Turning now to FIG. 5, a flow chart is provided describing a method forusing a computing device (e.g., the computing device 160 of FIG. 1) toview content from a smart cable storage drum, and to control certainaspects of the smart cable storage drum (e.g., the cable storage drum110 of FIG. 1). At a first step 510, the computing device connects to alocal area network associated with the cable storage drum (e.g., via aWLAN hotspot). At a second step 520, the computing device activates aninstallable software application configured to present information(e.g., video or other visual representation) captured by an inspectioncamera (e.g., the inspection camera 120 of FIG. 1) inside a pipe orother hard-to-access area. At a third step 530, any recorded content maybe received from the inspection camera (e.g., via a suitable web serviceor the network) and made available by the software application forviewing. At a fourth step 540, the software application from step 420may provide a control interface. Activation by a user of certaincontrols offered by the control interface may control certain operationsof the inspection camera system. At a fifth step 550, the computingdevice may interact with the inspection camera system through the webservice or network.

FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate flow charts describing two methods for enablinga computing device to view content from a smart cable storage drum, andto control certain aspects of a smart cable storage drum. One of skillin the art will appreciate various alternative methods for enabling sucha computing device to view content from various resources in a system,including one or more inspection devices, other computing devices, andremote databases. Having access to content from various system resourcesenables a user of the computing device to enrich content received froman inspection device, correlate content from multiple resources, andbetter coordinate the efforts of one or more users in the system.Moreover, having access to content using one or more networks permitsone or more users on the network(s) to view, manipulate, control thecapture of, and manage the distribution of content from variouslocations and at various times.

For example, a computing device may access inspection data from a cabledrum via a network (e.g., LAN, Internet, etc.). The computing device mayalso access related data from another system resource (e.g., anothercable drum or inspection device, another computing device, or a backenddatabase). Similarly, the cable drum may access the related data fromthe same resources. The computing device may then display the inspectiondata and/or the related data. A user at the computing device may alsoedit the displayed data and/or create data, and may distribute thoseedits and create data to the other resources in the system.

The user may also control, over the network, any of the networkedresources. Similarly, other users may also control any of the networkedresources.

Although at least some embodiments have been described as providing ahotspot or other suitable network node at the cable storage drum towhich one or more external computers connect, it is contemplated thatsuch a network node be provided (i.e., hosted) at one or more of theexternal computers, and that the cable storage drum (or inspectiondevice) may connect to that node to carry out any number of thefunctions described herein.

Any discussion herein relating to video received from and control of aninspection camera is also applicable to data received from and controlof other inspection devices, measurement devices, or other devices thatcollection information.

Other Aspects

One or more aspects may relate to systems and computer program productscomprising a non-transitory computer usable medium having a computerreadable program code embodied therein that may be configured toimplement methods. By way of example, a system may include a smart cablestorage drum comprising a push cable and an inspection camera configuredto capture data relating to one or more images. The systems may includeone or more wireless transceivers that may be coupled to the smart cablestorage drum, and that may be configured to send and receive informationto and from one or more remote computing devices and the smart cablestorage drum. The system may further comprise any or all of: a slip-ringhub coupled to the smart cable storage drum that includes the one ormore wireless transceivers, a key pad, electronics configured tocompress the data, a USB port configured to connect to an externalmemory and transfer data to the external memory, and a batteryconfigured to power the one or more wireless transceivers. The slip-ringhub may be detachably coupled to the smart cable storage drum along acentral axis of the smart cable storage drum.

The system may cause a web browser or an installable softwareapplication to display a user interface (UI) on a computing deviceoperated by a user, where the UI provides controls that may beselectable by the user to control one or more resources networked to thesystem. The one or more controls may include any or all of: an imagecontrol configured to cause the inspection camera to capture the data; atag control configured to cause the computing device to display anediting interface that enables the user to annotate the data with one ormore text, audio or highlighting annotations; a light brightness controlconfigured to cause one or more lights of the inspection camera toadjust a level of illumination; a compression control configured tocause the data to be compressed, where the compression control may bedisplayed on the UI as an asterisk or star icon; a count reset controlconfigured to reset a distance counter; an image flip control configuredto cause the computing device to display a flipped version of an imagecaptured by the inspection camera by mirroring the image about ahorizontal axis when an orientation of the inspection camera haschanged; a state control configured to cause the inspection camera tochange its operation state; a sonde control configured to cause a sondetransmitter to activate or deactivate; and a job manager controlconfigured to cause the computing device to display a menu that permitsthe user to generate a report.

The system may cause a web browser or an installable softwareapplication to display a user interface (UI) on a computing deviceoperated by a user, where the UI provides one or more statusindications. The one or more status indications may include any or allof: a sonde transmitter status indication configured to notify the userabout whether the sonde transmitter may be transmitting or nottransmitting, an image status indication configured to notify the userabout whether the inspection camera may be capturing the data or whetherthe data may be undergoing processing; and a count status indicationconfigured to display a current count number.

It may be contemplated that the above operations of the system may becontrolled by computer program products.

A smart cable storage drum may also comprise any or all of: a pushcable; an inspection camera configured to capture video; a means torecord data and video; and a network transceiver configured to send andreceive information to and from one or more remote computing devicesusing a network. The network transceiver may be a local area networktransceiver, and the network may be a local area network.

The local area network transceiver may be a wireless local area networkor WLAN utilizing IEEE 802.11 standards to communicate with computingdevices. The local area network transceiver may be configured to sendand receive information to and from one or more remote computing devicesusing Bluetooth technology. The local area network transceiver may beconfigured to send and receive information to and from one or moreremote computing devices using wired technology.

In accordance with certain embodiments, it is understood that somemobile devices may boast both Wi-Fi connectivity and “network” or “datanetwork” connectivity (e.g., such connectivity through a cellularcarrier). In some cases, only one type of network connectivity mayoperate at a time. Put another way, the mobile device may not be capableof simultaneous transmissions on both Wi-Fi and data networks. As such,mobile devices may prefer one network over another (e.g., a Wi-Finetwork so as not to exhaust a user's monthly data plan).

When a smart cable storage drum is enabled as a Wi-Fi access point, aneighboring mobile device that is connected to the Wi-Fi access pointmay maintain its connection without connecting to the “data” network(i.e., cellular or other network) to transfer data to or from a remotenetwork (e.g., a server or data source). It is therefore advantageous tocontrol the mobile device's connection from the Wi-Fi network connectionto the data network connection, and similarly from data connectivity tothe Wi-Fi connectivity. It is further advantageous to upload informationto a remote location using the mobile device and its data connection asa conduit.

In order to permit a mobile device to send and receive information(e.g., emails, data to/from remote servers), the Bluetooth channelbetween the mobile device and the cable storage drum may be used as awireless control channel to explicitly control when the mobile devicehas a connection to the Wi-Fi network and a connection to a datanetwork. One approach would be to periodically, or on an event-drivenbasis, disable Wi-Fi connection offered by the cable storage drum so themobile device defaults to its data network connection. This control mayoriginate at the cable storage drum independent of the mobile device, oralternatively may be sent via the Bluetooth channel from the mobiledevice.

Alternatively, a command may be sent via the Bluetooth channel from thecable storage drum to disable the mobile's default connection toavailable Wi-Fi (i.e., disable the Wi-Fi connection at the mobile deviceas compared to the cable storage drum). Or, a status query may be sentvia the Bluetooth channel from the cable storage drum to determinewhether the Wi-Fi access point should be disabled, or whether theconnection to that mobile device should be temporarily denied.

By way of example, one process flow relating to the Bluetooth channelcontrol among a smart cable storage drum and a mobile device in a systemmay include the following steps: power smart cable storage drum; enableWi-Fi hotspot/access point at the smart cable storage drum; connectmobile device to Wi Fi hotspot; transmit data/control between mobiledevice and smart cable storage drum; determine whether to disable theWi-Fi connection between the mobile device and the smart cable storagedrum based on user input (e.g., opening a computer application fortransmitting data or selecting an option to transmit data between mobiledevice and remote device); disable the Wi-Fi connection using theBluetooth channel (e.g., instruct smart cable storage drum to disablethe Wi-Fi connection with respect to the mobile device); connect mobiledevice to data network to transmit data between the mobile phone and aremote device using the data network; determine whether to disable theconnection between the mobile device and the data network, oralternatively enable the Wi-Fi connection between the mobile device andthe smart cable storage drum based on user input or an event (e.g.,closing a computer application for transmitting data, completing datatransfer, or selecting an option to close the data network connection);enable the Wi-Fi connection using the Bluetooth channel (e.g., instructsmart cable storage drum to enable the Wi-Fi connection with respect tothe mobile device.

At least some of the information sent to the one or more remotecomputing devices causes a web browser or an installable softwareapplication to display the captured video on the one or more remotecomputing devices. At least some of the information sent to the one ormore remote computing devices causes a web browser or an installablesoftware application to display a user interface for controlling theinspection camera at the one or more remote computing devices. At leastsome of the information received from the one or more remote computingdevices causes at least one operation of the inspection camera tochange.

A pipe inspection record and the captured video may be stored on a datastorage device of the smart cable storage drum.

A computer-implemented method for controlling an inspection device usinga first remote computing device may comprise any or all of: receivingfirst inspection data from a first cable drum or a first inspectiondevice; displaying at least some of the first inspection data via a webbrowser or other software application; receiving at least a first inputfrom a user of the remote computing device; creating, based on the firstinput, an instruction configured to control one or more operations ofthe first inspection device; and sending the instruction to the firstcable drum or the first inspection device; sending the first input to asecond remote computing device; receiving data related to a second inputfrom a second user of a second remote computing device; displaying thedata related to the second input; receiving second inspection data froma second cable drum or a second inspection device; displaying at leastsome of the second inspection data via the web browser or other softwareapplication; receiving data from a backend database; comparing the datafrom the backend database with the first inspection data; anddisplaying, based on the comparing, at least some of the data from thebackend database simultaneously with the first inspection data via theweb browser or other software application.

The first inspection data may be received via a wireless local areanetwork hosted by the first cable drum or the first inspection device.The first input may include one or more edits to the first inspectiondata. The first input may include additional data related to the firstinspection data. The first inspection data may be received via awireless network hosted by the first remote computing device. The firstinspection data may be received via the Internet. The second inspectiondata and the first inspection data may be simultaneously displayed.

An apparatus for viewing information from or controlling an inspectiondevice may comprise any or all of: a display configured to present auser interface, wherein the user interface may be configured to receiveinput from a user that causes a change in an operation of the inspectiondevice; and a processor in communication with the inspection device overa network, said processor operable to: cause the display to presentinspection data received from the inspection device in the userinterface on the display; and cause an instruction based on the inputfrom the user to be sent to the inspection device.

A computer program product comprising a computer usable medium having acomputer readable program code embodied therein, said computer readableprogram code adapted to be executed to implement a method for viewinginformation from or controlling an inspection device, where the methodmay comprise any or all of: receiving inspection data from a cable drumor an inspection device; displaying at least some of the inspection dataon a user interface provided by a web browser or other softwareapplication; and receiving a plurality of inputs from a user of theremote computing device, wherein a first input modifies the inspectiondata, a second input creates data associated with the inspection data,and a third input causes a change in an operation of the inspectiondevice.

Variations of Aspects

It is understood that the specific order components disclosed herein areexamples of exemplary approaches. Based upon design preferences, it isunderstood that the specific order components may be rearranged, and/orcomponents may be omitted, while remaining within the scope of thepresent disclosure unless noted otherwise. The previous description ofthe disclosed embodiments is provided to enable any person skilled inthe art to make or use the present disclosure. Various modifications tothese embodiments may be readily apparent to those skilled in the art,and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to otherembodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of thedisclosure. Thus, the present disclosure is not intended to be limitedto the embodiments shown herein but is to be accorded the widest scopeconsistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

The disclosure is not intended to be limited to the aspects shownherein, but is to be accorded the full scope consistent with thespecification and drawings, wherein reference to an element in thesingular is not intended to mean “one and only one” unless specificallyso stated, but rather “one or more.” Unless specifically statedotherwise, the term “some” refers to one or more. A phrase referring to“at least one of” a list of items refers to any combination of thoseitems, including single members. As an example, “at least one of: a, b,or c” is intended to cover: a; b; c; a and b; a and c; b and c; and a, band c.

The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits describedin connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implementedor performed with a general purpose processor, a digital signalprocessor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), afield programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device,discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or anycombination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein.A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in thealternative, the processor may be any conventional processor,controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also beimplemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combinationof a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one ormore microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other suchconfiguration.

In accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure, one ormore of the process steps described herein may be stored in memory ascomputer program instructions. These instructions may be executed by adigital signal processor, an analog signal processor, and/or anotherprocessor, to perform the methods described herein. Further, theprocessor(s), the memory, the instructions stored therein, or acombination thereof may serve as a means for performing one or more ofthe method steps described herein.

Those of skill in the art would understand that information and signalsmay be represented using any of a variety of different technologies andtechniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information,signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout theabove description may be represented by voltages, currents,electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields orparticles, or any combination thereof.

Those of skill would further appreciate that the various illustrativelogical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described inconnection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented aselectronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both. Toclearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software,various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and stepshave been described above generally in terms of their functionality.Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or softwaredepends upon the particular application and design constraints imposedon the overall system. Skilled artisans may implement the describedfunctionality in varying ways for each particular application, but suchimplementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing adeparture from the scope of the present disclosure.

In one or more exemplary embodiments, the functions described may beimplemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof.If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on or encoded asone or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium.Computer-readable media includes computer storage media. Storage mediamay be any available media that can be accessed by a computer. By way ofexample, and not limitation, such computer-readable media can compriseRAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic diskstorage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that canbe used to carry or store desired program code in the form ofinstructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer.Disk and disc, as used herein, includes compact disc (CD), laser disc,optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and Blu-ray discwhere disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproducedata optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also beincluded within the scope of computer-readable media. Any processor andthe storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a userterminal. In the alternative, the processor and the storage medium mayreside as discrete components in a user terminal.

The previous description of the disclosed embodiments is provided toenable any person skilled in the art to make or use the presentdisclosure. Various modifications to these embodiments may be readilyapparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles definedherein may be applied to other embodiments without departing from thespirit or scope of the disclosure. Thus, the present disclosure is notintended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein but is to beaccorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novelfeatures disclosed herein. It is intended that the following claims andtheir equivalents define the scope of the disclosure.

Aspects of the present disclosure are typically carried out in orresident on a computing network. The computing network generallyincludes computer hardware components such as servers, monitors, I/Odevices, network connection devices, as well as other associatedhardware. In addition, the aspects and features described below mayinclude one or more application programs configured to receive, convert,process, store, retrieve, transfer and/or export data and other contentand information. As an example, these aspects and features may includeone or more processors that may be coupled to a memory space comprisingSRAM, DRAM, Flash and/or other physical memory devices. Memory space maybe configured to store an operating system (OS), one or more applicationprograms, such as a UI program, data associated with the pertinentaspect or feature, applications running on processors in the device,user information, or other data or content. The various aspects andfeatures of the present disclosure may further include one or more UserI/O interfaces, such as keypads, touch screen inputs, mice, Bluetoothdevices or other I/O devices. In addition, the certain aspects andfeatures may include a cellular or other over the air wireless carrierinterface, as well as a network interface that may be configured tocommunicate via a LAN or wireless LAN (WiLAN), such as a Wi-Fi network.Other interfaces, such as USB or other wired interfaces may also beincluded.

Data sources may be a hard disk drive for convenience, but this is notrequired, and one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that otherstorage media may be utilized without departing from the scope of theinvention. In addition, one of ordinary skill in the art will recognizethat the data source which is depicted as a single storage device, maybe realized by multiple (e.g., distributed) storage devices. It isfurther contemplated that the data source may include one or more typesof a data sources, including hierarchical data sources, network datasources, relational data sources, non-relational data sources,object-oriented data sources, or another type of data source able tohandle various data types (e.g., structured data that fits nicely intofields, rows, and columns, or data from various media sources such asgraphics, photographs, audio, and video structured data. For example,the data source 132 may store data in a fixed file format, such as XML,comma separated values, tab separated values, or fixed length fields.Alternatively, the data source may store data in a non-fixed file format(e.g., a NoSQL data source).

As used herein, computer program products comprising computer-readablemedia including all forms of computer-readable medium except, to theextent that such media is deemed to be non-statutory, transitorypropagating signals.

While various embodiments of the present disclosure have been describedin detail, it may be apparent to those skilled in the art that thepresent disclosure can be embodied in various other forms notspecifically described herein.

We claim:
 1. A system for viewing of data from and the controlling ofthe operation of an inspection camera, the system comprising: a smartcable storage drum comprising: a push cable; an inspection cameraconfigured to capture data relating to one or more images; and one ormore wireless transceivers coupled to the smart cable storage drum, andconfigured to send and receive information to and from one or moreremote computing devices and the smart cable storage drum.
 2. The systemof claim 1, the system further comprising: a slip-ring coupled to thesmart cable storage drum.
 3. The system of claim 2, wherein the slipring includes the one or more wireless transceivers.
 4. The system ofclaim 2, wherein the slip ring includes a key pad.
 5. The system ofclaim 2, wherein the slip ring includes electronics configured tocompress the data.
 6. The system of claim 2, wherein the slip ringincludes a USB port configured to connect to an external memory andtransfer data to the external memory.
 7. The system of claim 2, whereinthe slip ring includes a battery configured to power the one or morewireless transceivers.
 8. The system of claim 2, wherein the slip-ringslip ring is detachably coupled to the smart cable storage drum along acentral axis of the smart cable storage drum.
 9. The system of claim 1,wherein the system causes a web browser or an installable softwareapplication to display a user interface (UI) on a computing deviceoperated by a user, wherein the UI provides controls that are selectableby the user to control one or more resources networked to the system.10. The system of claim 9, wherein the one or more controls include animage control configured to cause the inspection camera to capture thedata.
 11. The system of claim 10, wherein the one or more controlsfurther include a tag control configured to cause the computing deviceto display an editing interface that enables the user to annotate thedata with one or more text, audio or highlighting annotations.
 12. Thesystem of claim 10, wherein the one or more controls further include alight brightness control configured to cause one or more lights of theinspection camera to adjust a level of illumination.
 13. The system ofclaim 9, wherein the one or more controls include a compression controlconfigured to cause the data to be compressed.
 14. The system of claim13, wherein the compression control is displayed on the UI as anasterisk or star icon.
 15. The system of claim 9, wherein the one ormore controls include a count reset control configured to reset adistance counter.
 16. The system of claim 9, wherein the one or morecontrols include an image flip control configured to cause the computingdevice to display a flipped version of an image captured by theinspection camera by mirroring the image about a horizontal axis when anorientation of the inspection camera has changed.
 17. The system ofclaim 9, wherein the one or more controls include a state controlconfigured to cause the inspection camera to change its operation state.18. The system of claim 9, wherein the one or more controls include asonde control configured to cause a sonde transmitter to activate ordeactivate.
 19. The system of claim 9, wherein the one or more controlsinclude a job manager control configured to cause the computing deviceto display a menu that permits the user to generate a report.
 20. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the system causes a web browser or aninstallable software application to display a user interface (UI) on acomputing device operated by a user, wherein the UI provides one or morestatus indications.
 21. The system of claim 20, wherein the one or morestatus indications include a sonde transmitter status indicationconfigured to notify the user about whether the sonde transmitter istransmitting or not transmitting.
 22. The system of claim 20, whereinthe one or more status indications include an image status indicationconfigured to notify the user about whether the inspection camera iscapturing the data or whether the data is undergoing processing.
 23. Thesystem of claim 20, wherein the one or more status indications include acount status indication configured to display a current count number.24. The system of claim 1, the system further comprising: a rotating hubaround which the push cable may be wound and unwound.
 25. The system ofclaim 24, wherein the rotating hub includes the one or more wirelesstransceivers.
 26. The system of claim 24, wherein the rotating hubincludes electronics configured to compress the data.
 27. The system ofclaim 24, wherein the rotating hub includes a USB port configured toconnect to an external memory and transfer data to the external memory.28. The system of claim 24, wherein the rotating hub includes a batteryconfigured to power the one or more wireless transceivers.
 29. Thesystem of claim 24, further comprising: a slip-ring that is detachablyinserted into to a cavity formed by at least part of the rotating hub.